Spontaneous past and future thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic across 14 countries: Effects of individual and country-level COVID-19 impact indicators.

TY - CONF

T1 - Spontaneous past and future thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic across 14 countries: Effects of individual and country-level COVID-19 impact indicators.

AU - Watson, Lynn Ann

AU - Taylor, Andrea

AU - Cole, Scott

AU - Markostamou, Ioanna

AU - Barzykowski, Krystian

AU - Ergen, İrem

AU - Öner, Sezin

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - In 2020, the world was amid a global health crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic. Nations had varying levels of morbidity and mortality and adopted different measures to prevent the spread of infection. Effects of the pandemic on spontaneous (rather than voluntary) past and future thoughts remain unexplored. Here, we report data from a multi-country online study examining how both country- and individual-level factors affect this core aspect of human cognition. Results showed that national (stringency of measures) and individual (attention to COVID-related information and worry) factors significantly predicted the frequency of people’s spontaneous thoughts. Additionally, no typical positivity biases were found, as both past and future spontaneous thoughts had a negative emotional valence. This large-scale multi-national study provides novel insights towards better understanding the emergence and qualities of spontaneous past and future thoughts. Findings are discussed in terms of both the determinants and functions of spontaneous thought.

AB - In 2020, the world was amid a global health crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic. Nations had varying levels of morbidity and mortality and adopted different measures to prevent the spread of infection. Effects of the pandemic on spontaneous (rather than voluntary) past and future thoughts remain unexplored. Here, we report data from a multi-country online study examining how both country- and individual-level factors affect this core aspect of human cognition. Results showed that national (stringency of measures) and individual (attention to COVID-related information and worry) factors significantly predicted the frequency of people’s spontaneous thoughts. Additionally, no typical positivity biases were found, as both past and future spontaneous thoughts had a negative emotional valence. This large-scale multi-national study provides novel insights towards better understanding the emergence and qualities of spontaneous past and future thoughts. Findings are discussed in terms of both the determinants and functions of spontaneous thought.

M3 - Poster

T2 - Autobiographical Memory in Ageing and Dementia

Y2 - 27 September 2022 through 28 September 2022

ER -